TSA screening behaviors are so vague they justify any targeted stop.

Evidence

There has been an increase in passenger complaints against TSA by those who felt they were singled out because of their religious, racial, or ethnic identity for these supposedly random stops and searches (Bonikowski 2005). Behavioral detection officers have also come forward as whistleblowers of racial profiling in airports. According to the ACLU’s website, former BDOs have come out and stated that these behavioral detection programs are “racial profiling programs” and give TSA agents the “license to harass” (Handeyside 2014). In 2015, the Intercept published an article about the “Spot Referral Report” that TSA agents use to determine suspicious behavior. Those listed on this document include exaggerated yawning, excessive complaining of the screening process, excessive throat clearing, widely open staring eyes, gazing down, and even a pale face from recently shaving a beard (Winter and Currier 2015). — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 223

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: the absurd Spot Referral Report criteria — pale face from shaving, excessive yawning — as proof ‘random’ surveillance is really identity-based.
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: TSA suspicious-behavior criteria are so vague anyone qualifies but only some are stopped — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 167

Broader Connections

• TSA suspicious-behavior criteria are so vague anyone qualifies but only some are stopped #corroborates (0.90) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 167